And the winner is....

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the raffle here. We didn't quite reach 100, but did manage to sell 97 tickets. In total, on my blog alone, you donated $268 (US), 122 pounds and $10 (Aus)! Wow! I can't wait to see the grand total from everyone involved in this.

But that's not really why you're here, is it?

I numbered each ticket in the order it was bought (eg MeeABee got 1 and 2) and then put the numbers into a random number generator. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to show that here on my blog (I know, I know...), but you trust me, right?

The winning number was... 29

... which means the winner is seeks!

Congratulations! I'll be emailing you now to see what kinds of fabrics you prefer.

Once again, thank you to everyone who entered, your donations will make a big difference in the lives of many people.

Now, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go and have a baby...

A message to raffle entrants

Thank you so much to all of you who have already entered the raffle. There have been so many generous donations and I'm excited to see how much we can raise in total. And of course there is still time to enter here!

I have just one request for you:

Please make sure I can contact you !

I have had several entries with neither an e-mail address nor a public Blogger profile. I have queries for a couple of people and can't get in touch with them and, of course, I need to be able to contact you if you win!

Don't forget that there are lots of other great raffle and actions going on too, each needing their own donation to enter. Jo has also posted about where the money is going; I think it's a great combination of emergency measures and long-term aid.

There are still a few places in Northern Japan where they don't have enough of basic supplies, but in most areas aid is getting through well now. The number of people in shelters has halved since I last wrote about it, as people become able to return to their homes or find family or friends who can help them. Electricity is still a problem for many, whether due to damaged supply lines or the nuclear plants being out of commission. Temporary accommodation is already being built and different areas around Japan are offering public housing to people who have lost their homes. Our neighbouring prefecture which, like many rural areas, is suffering from a distinct lack of young people, is offering free housing and a cash incentive to people who move there! There are a lot of sad stories on the news, but the discovery of an 80 year old woman and her 16 year old grandson, alive and uninjured in the rubble of their home, cheered us all.

And while the future of the nuclear reactors is still unsure and worrying, H told me some reassuring information about the current situation. News reports of double the usual radiation level in Tokyo sound bad but apparently the usual, background radiation level in Rome is 6 times the current level in Tokyo! It all depends on what you define as 'normal'...

One week to go...

...until the raffle to win 25 fat quarters of lovely Japanese fabric. Thank you so much to all the people who have already donated to the earthquake relief fund and entered the raffle. There are still tickets available though, so have a look here if you are interested. Jo has put together a Master List of all the raffle and auctions going on, which you can see here, there are lots of wonderful things you could win so please do check it out.

And less than a week to go until The Arrivals! Mum and Dad will be getting here on the 25th (Friday), which also just so happens to be this baby's due date. I wonder who will make an appearance first? When I was expecting K, Mum and Dad arrived 3 days before his due date, but he didn't bother to join us until about 10 days after it. Even then he was in no hurry; the birth was induced, which only seemed to result in an extra-long labour as the baby still hadn't dropped down into position. Hopefully this baby will make an appearance before the doctor wants to induce, but ideally not until Mum and Dad are here to look after K...

H took some pictures of me at the park on K's birthday, 2 weeks ago. From the front it's not too shocking...


...but side-on you get the full, watermelon-up-the-jumper effect:


At that time I was having a lot of pain in my lower back and hips, but I'm very glad to report that that has improved somewhat. It's not as painful as before, and the type of pain has changed too. I still feel it every time I walk or move in any way really, and turning over in bed can be excruciating, but at least H isn't finding me sitting on the kitchen floor in tears anymore...

Apart from that (!), I'm feeling fine. The doctor told me that I was about 2cm dilated 10 days ago which prompted a slight panic, but he said the same again on Wednesday so maybe I can relax a little. When I was expecting K I was walking for an hour every day, but this time I'm getting no exercise at all and I can feel the difference. Just going upstairs leaves me feeling quite tired out, so I'm not sure how prepared I am for the task of giving birth!

feeling the baby move, a few days ago


Dr K checks on my baby...

...and his!

At least now I am starting to feel somewhat prepared. This week I did my last private lessons and finished off the transcription work I had, and from now on there is nothing marked on the calendar at all. K is now on spring break from pre-school too, so we don't even have to get up at a particular time. H has brought all the baby stuff down from the loft and is getting it all cleaned up, and I have washed and sorted all the old clothes and bought a few new bits and pieces. I finally packed a hospital bag for me, and a bag for K in case he has to go to H's parents at short notice. The hospital admittance form has been filled in, the cot is set up and I've even managed to make something for the new baby!

OK, so it's only a couple of squares of material with a bit of crinkly plastic in the middle and some little ribbon loops around the outside, but I made it and it is finished. Which is more than I can say for the blanket I'm crocheting, so we'll move swiftly on...

All that's left to do now is get ready for Mum and Dad to arrive, which basically means housework. Oh joy. I'm torn between 'must get everything clean and tidy before they get here' and 'they'll need something to do once they're here, right?'. I know that they wouldn't want me to be worrying about housework on their behalf, but, on the other hand, they don't know quite how bad it is and I don't really want them to either. At the very least I must go through the cupboards and throw out food which expired before K was born, and sew the buttons on the pyjamas that Mum helped me make (everything finished except for, yup, the buttons) in summer 2008...

Japan Quake Appeal - Raffling Japanese Fabric - CLOSED

*** This raffle is now closed. Thank you so much to everyone who donated! ***

Here in Western Japan the earthquake and tsunami have not affected us at all. Obviously I am so thankful that my friends and family are all safe, but at the same time there is a certain guilt connected to carrying on as usual when so many people are suffering. I feel so helpless here, especially as local governments in the affected area have asked individuals not to donate goods since sorting and distributing those goods increases the burden on an already overloaded system. So, cash donations it is, and if you too would like to chip in, here is one way you can help...

As I wrote yesterday, Jo at A Bit Of This And A Bit Of That is encouraging bloggers in Japan and around the world to hold raffles and auctions to raise money for the relief effort. For my part, I'm offering...

25 Fat Quarters of Japanese Fabric

That's over 6 metres/yards of material in total! This photo is just to give you an idea of the sort of lovely fabrics you might win. All the fabrics will be chosen by me from my shop stock (including some that have yet to be listed there) in consultation with the winner. So if you're particularly interested in traditional Japanese fabrics, or prints suitable for boys, or florals, or a particular colour, or kawaii cutesy designs... I'll pick out a bundle that'll make you smile. Have a browse through the shop if you'd like to see more of the sort of thing you could win.

How to enter:

Go to GlobalGiving.co.uk (United Kingdom) or GlobalGiving.org (United States) and make a donation.

• Every $5 donation or 3 pound donation entitles you to one raffle ticket.
• After you have made your donation, come back and leave a comment on this post, telling me how much you donated (ie how many tickets you have bought) and your receipt number.
• Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in the comment too - you can write it as name 'at' yahoo 'dot' com if you are worried about spam.
• If you make a mistake or need to change your comment, please go back and delete your first comment and rewrite it.
• Open to anyone, anywhere in the world!
• The raffle will close at mid-day Japan time 26th March and the winner will be drawn at random and contacted by email. However, there is a risk that I will be, ahem, giving birth that day, so please forgive me if I'm a day or two late in posting the results here.

For help with the donation you can refer to this post http://jojoebi.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-make-donation.html

The raffle being held on this blog, and others around the blogosphere, is held in conjunction with A Bit of This and A Bit of That. We are in no way affiliated with global giving, that's just our chosen method of getting funds safely to the affected area.

Later this week Jo will be putting up a list of all the blogs involved in this appeal, each of which will be hosting their own raffle or auction, each requiring separate donations. So if you're not interested in fabric, there will be lots of other things to tempt you. Do please check out the others and enter as many as you can afford. Let's do what we can to help those in need. And if you blog, or Facebook, or Tweet, or have friends in real life, please do spread the word!

Japan Quake Appeal

Following the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Northern Japan on Friday, fellow blogger, Brit-in-Japan and Etsy shop owner Jo (of A Bit Of This And A Bit Of That) has put together a fund-raising raffle/auction.

Bloggers all over the world will be offering all kinds of wonderful prizes in exchange for donations to the aid effort. Here at Monkey Magic I will be giving away a selection of Japanese fabrics from my shop, chosen to match the taste of the winner. More details here later, after I have it all set up, but please do watch this space (and Jo's space too) and spread the word!

I won!

Yesterday I got an e-mail from Dana of MADE fame. Just seeing that message in my in-box left me super-excited and somewhat star-struck... Then I opened it and found that I had won a prize in one of her Celebrate The Boy giveaways! A chenille cowboy blanket to be exact, which you can see here. Perfect for snuggling up with little boys I think... Thank you Dana!

Mistletoe

Here's something else I didn't get round to showing you until now...

Last month I found the online magazine and blog Rhythm of the Home, just when they happened to be having a giveaway. I entered my name and later discovered that I had won this lovely handmade mistletoe! I've never seen mistletoe in Japan and every Christmas I think I would like to have some - and now I do!

This mistletoe was created from wool and recycled wool felt by Kendra of by hand at home, who I have just noticed had a baby on Christmas Eve! Thank you Kendra and congratulations!

And the winner is....

Thank you very much to everyone who entered my little giveaway. It was lovely to get comments from you all and I'm sure I'll do another one sometime soon.

I put the comment numbers 1 to 8 into this random number generator, and figured out how to do a screenshot of the result (ie I asked H). So, without further ado, the winner is...

Number 1! It's Lisa! Congratulations Lisa! I'm glad my sister didn't win (sorry sis) or I might have had to do it again to avoid accusations of bias ;-)

Lisa wins $20 to spend in my shop, redeemable against anything in the shop or a custom order and valid indefinitely. But that's not all! I want to thank you all for joining in and I feel a bit sorry for those of you who didn't win so, everyone who entered the draw (and anyone else who happens t0 read this I suppose!) can celebrate Golden Week with a 10% discount! Just write 'Happy Golden Week' in the 'message to seller' box, and I'll refund 10% of the sale.

This offer is valid in conjunction with others, so if you order 4 or more fat quarters you'll be eligible for the automatic 'large order' discount and the Golden Week discount. Yeah! This discount is valid until midnight on Wednesday, and all Golden Week sales will be posted on Friday, after the holidays. Thanks again for joining in, and have a great weekend!

Golden Week plans

Actually I don't really have any plans, apart from a dinner out tonight, but here are some plans I would like to have...

• a barbecue here with some friends - this one is a real plan, as long as the weather holds...
• a drive to Kaga, my favourite bit of coastline here, for a picnic and to explore the rockpools
• updating my shop
• games night with some friends, if they haven't all gone elsewhere for the holidays!
• a bit of gardening - mainly weeding I expect :-(
• some kind of outing with H and without K, though that depends on H's mum...

I'll report back next week on how much I managed!

***************************

And if you haven't entered the giveaway yet, there's still time! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post - there aren't all that many entries yet which is a bit disappointing for me but good news for you if you'd like to join in! I'll be drawing the winner tomorrow so check back here then to see if you've won!

Parlez-vous francais?

Did you know that I used to speak French? I studied it at school and university and even spent some time in France as an English language assistant in a high school. Since coming to Japan though, I have barely spoken a word of French. My French now is not just rusty, it has completely seized up!

But help is at hand! I had heard of a weekly French-speaking tea-and-cake session at a nearby coffee shop and last Thursday I plucked up the courage to go along. I already knew 2 out of the 3 people who were there, which made it both easier and more embarrassing... Everyone was very encouraging though, and I really enjoyed it. I could understand most of what was said but my attempts to speak were really quite pathetic: starting sentences and then trailing off into face-pulling and gesturing, as the others valiantly tried to supply the missing words.

There's no meeting tomorrow as it's a public holiday, which gives me another week to dig out my old dictionary, think in advance of what I'd like to say, and continue my new habit of talking to myself in French while alone in the car!

*********************

On a completely unrelated note, have you entered the giveaway yet? There's still time!

Someone will win $20 to spend in my shop, so just leave a comment on the post below this one.

And to respond to some of the comments already received (thank you!), yes the giveaway is open to everyone; I'm sure the pincushion will arrive soon and I blame that Icelandic volcano; and yes sis, if you'd like to send me a present I won't argue :o)

Look! Free stuff!

I almost missed it, but today is my blogging birthday! Yes, a whole year has passed since I started wittering away here.

To celebrate, I thought I'd have a little giveaway. Leave a comment on this post and I'll enter you in a draw to win a $20 gift certificate for my shop! There are lots of lovely fabrics there to choose from, and a couple of zippered pouches too...

To be honest, it's just a way to bribe you to leave a comment :-) Whether you've left a comment here before or not, whether I know you in real life or not, wherever you are in the world - please leave a comment! The draw will be open until midnight on Friday the 30th April, so that lots and lots of you (are there lots and lots of you??) will be able to leave lovely comments for me.

One comment per person please, and make sure there is some way I can contact you (Blogger profile or email address). Good luck!

Oh, and there is still a little gift waiting for the person who buys the 100th item from my shop! I'm up to 98 sales now so it won't be waiting for long I think...

Giveaway in the shop!

I'm planning a little free-gift-with-purchase special offer in my Etsy shop and thought I'd offer it to all my lovely blog readers first. I'll be opening it up to the general public in time for the weekend, but for you it's available now!

I've got some cute letter sets and some rather nice Hello Kitty stickers whose listings will expire in a week or two and that I don't really want to relist. So if you spend 20 dollars or more (not including shipping) in the shop, you can have one for free! Just write in the 'Message to seller' section what you would like (choose from the letter sets and stickers listed in the shop). Offer is valid until the listings expire or while stocks last.

And I've just listed some new fabric too.....

The grand total!

Thank you to everyone who entered my little giveaway. The total number of mini-tomatoes we picked by the end of August was ......(drum-roll please)....... 1,381!

That means the winner of the giveaway is Aik, who guessed 1,000 tomatoes. She has chosen this letter-set and these stickers from the shop:


Congratulations Aik! I will send you an e-mail soon but if you read this first, please send me an e-mail with your address.

Thanks again to everyone who entered, it was fun to get lots of comments!